Last night President Trump addressed Congress and the nation in his State of the Union address and the Democrats responded with their rebuttal in kind. While both sides wish to portray only their successes and the other’s failures, level headed people understand that the truth is somewhere in between. If this past year has shown anything, it is that no one is perfect and even flawed people can still do great things. On this subject, Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “But he said

Have you ever heard the old adage “too many cooks in the kitchen”? It refers to the situation when there are too many people, each with a different voice and opinion, trying to complete a task. Naturally, this leads to confusion, arguments, and an inability to get the job done. Washington could be characterized in such a way today, with so many people pulling our leaders in different directions. While freedom of speech or speaking out for your cause is not a bad thing, when w

Congress continues to debate immigration reform, and with such a hot button issue, both sides have trotted out their most passionate voices to lobby for their side. Left in the middle are the rest of us, hoping for an equitable resolution, or at the very least, a return to civility in political debate. The Bible has a word for those who live to divide, argue, and fight: quarrelers. In 2 Timothy, it says, “Remind them of these things, and charge them before God not to quarrel

Last year in Denver, the city government launched a program to pay homeless people to do work around the city – no resumes, no background checks, no experience required. Anyone interested would only need to show up for the 3 to 6 hour shifts and complete work like mulching parks and clerical work at the libraries. They all were paid a wage of $12.50 per hour. Since the inception of the program, over 284 people have participated and over $109,000 has been paid for over 10,000

The sentencing of Larry Nassar, the former Team USA Gymnastics Doctor convicted of sexual abuse of his athletes, brought a certain measure of closure to a very painful saga for those many athletes. It is sometimes baffling how such evil can exist, and even thrive, in our society for so long. We may not ever understand it, but by placing our faith in God, we can be sure that good will inevitably come from it. In Proverbs, it says, “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but

Negotiations are tense in Washington as the government shutdown was ended but another looms in only a few weeks because of continued disagreements on immigration policy. With such high stakes negotiations ongoing, it begs the question: how can we negotiate in a Godly way? In Proverbs, it says, “All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirit.” Whether negotiating national legislation or a deal on a used car, we each have the temptation to tilt a

The Senate voted to end the government shutdown yesterday, allowing for governmental services to resume. In a moment of bipartisanship, our leaders came together for the benefit of the country. However the partisan rancor continues to rage, as both sides of the political equation continue to jockey for position for the 2018 midterm elections. One of the most troubling things about the daily political discourse is just how shallow the majority of the talking points are. Politi

On Friday, our Congressional leaders failed to pass the continuing resolution that would fund our government, thus the government is shutdown. It is a sad state of affairs when politics becomes more important than people, as everyone suffers while the government is shut down. In the Apostle Paul’s day, the church in Corinth suffered similar strife, as members were bringing lawsuits against one another rather than seeking compromise through forgiveness. Paul confronted them on

Happy #ElevatedFriday! Today we highlight the selfless giving of a home nurse for a man in need. While working in the home of one of her patients, the patient asked nurse Amanda Perez if she could clean his fridge for him. She happily obliged, but when she opened the door, was shocked to see how empty it was. Perez asked him where his food was, and he “looked down as if he was ashamed” and replied that he could only occasionally afford groceries. Despite personally being tigh

As investigations into many people in and around Washington continue, many are calling for transparency and for investigators to “get to the bottom of things.” This is no easy task, as it involves diving into the private lives of people. It is difficult for us to understand the things others do in private, as we all have a private life that we allow few, if any, to ever see. Part of understanding the private life of another, or even ourselves, revolves around understanding wh